Covered Tracks
by ProcrastinatingPalindrome
Summary: Shortly after WWII ends, Japan and America make a deal.


America leaned back in his chair and wished he had a cigarette. This wasn't how things were supposed to go. The hero was supposed to _punish_ evil. He wasn't supposed to help evil people escape justice... Japan sat across the table in a wheelchair, pale and much thinner than he had been at the start of the war. He shifted uncomfortably from time to time; the two injuries on his right side ached constantly, despite the painkillers America had supplied him with. Both men stared at the neat stack of papers Japan had placed in the middle of the table.

"This is just a small portion of our research, of course," Japan said softly. "You'll receive the rest if you agree to cooperate."

"This is some sick shit, Japan," America whispered hoarsely, eyes still locked on the papers. "I mean, this is almost as bad as the stuff Germany was doing."

"Less than 15,000 maruta-" Japan paused, "I mean people, excuse me, less than 15,000 people were killed for our experiments. You can hardly compare that to the concentration camps."

"What did you just call them?"

"Maruta. It's our word for wooden logs. This project was top secret, so we told everyone that Unit 731 was just a lumber mill, and the specimens we brought in were the maruta. It was something of a joke, at first."

"That's disgusting, Japan. That's fucking disgusting. They were human beings_, _for fuck's sake."

"You did ask, America-san. I am being honest with you."

America stood up so quickly he nearly knocked over his chair and began pacing the small room, dragging his hands through his hair and cursing angrily under his breath. Japan sat quietly and waited for him to calm down. He hadn't really expected America to take this well. He wouldn't understand that Japan had done all this for his people, for his emperor, or that he felt he was justified in sacrificing people of...lesser races for scientific advancement. He had learned how to prevent and treat frostbite. He had learned how to use plague and cholera as weapons. He had learned so many, many things about the human body, things he could never have learned without experimenting on humans directly. Oh, it had been difficult to get used to the experiments at first, but soon it was easy to close his ears to the screams. They were only _maruta_, after all. Less than human. He just had to remember that and the guilt would melt away. But America wouldn't understand that. Japan had already shown America some of the results, but the younger country was still too hung up on _how _he had gotten those results to appreciate all they had accomplished. And so he stayed silent. After a few moments America returned to his seat and buried his face in his hands.

"Is it really true? All of it?" he mumbled from behind his hands.

"I told you, America-san, I am being honest with you."

"Even the part about vivisecting people? Without anesthesia?"

"It tended to interfere with our research, so yes, we often went without."

"And you would.... freeze peoples' limbs solid? Stick 'em in freezers and dump water on their arms and legs until it turned to ice?"

"We wished to study frostbite, and that was the easiest way."

America took a deep, shuddering breath and moved his hands away at last. A cigarette, he really just wanted a fucking cigarette.

"And you want me to help you?"

"That is why I called on you today, yes. I want you to grant immunity to our physicians who worked at Unit 731. Keep them from being tried as war criminals and you can have our research."

"They _are_ war criminals. They _should _be on trial. Why are you so desperate to keep those sick doctors of yours safe, huh? What are you afraid of, Japan?"

"The same thing you're afraid of, America-san."

"Bullshit, I'm not afraid of anything."

"I can think of one thing."

"Oh? And what's that?"

"Russia."

America inhaled sharply, but said nothing.

"You are angry that some of your men were used for the experiments," said Japan quietly after a moment. "That is understandable, but only a small percentage of the maru...test subjects were American. Most were Chinese, but a great number were Russian."

"And Russia knows that?"

"He doesn't know all the details, but he learned about some of our activities after he invaded Manchuria. He also knows we've been using some of the biological and chemical weapons we developed against his people, soldiers and civilians alike."

"So he's pissed off."

"That's an understatement, unfortunately."

"So you want me to keep your guys safe from the crazy fucker, is that is?"

"To put it simply. If they are put on trial, they will almost certainly be sent to Siberia." Japan suddenly looked up and met America's eyes for the first time all day. "But that is not the real threat. If they are put on trial, our research, which includes quite a few biological weapons, will become available to Russia."

The color drained from America's face. His throat was suddenly horribly dry, and he had to swallow a few times before answering.

"You really think he'll retaliate?" he asked, irritated that a bit of a tremor had entered his voice.

"I wouldn't put it past him," Japan said lightly, and then leaned forward as he played his trump card. "Of course, if he had access to such technology, I doubt I'll be the only one he uses it on." Japan's eyes moved from America's face to his hands, which had been folded in front on him seconds ago. Now they were clenched into fists. It wouldn't take much more to persuade America. He pressed on.

"You can let him get his hands on this dangerous technology. Or you can cooperate with me, and you alone will have access to the research. You want it, don't you America-san?"

America's chest was starting to hurt and he suddenly realized that he was holding his breath. He let it out slowly and unsteadily, trying to think. Some of his own people had been tortured,_ murdered_ to produce that disgusting research, but yes, dammit, he _did _want it. The whole business was nauseating, the stuff Japan's men had done was hard to even imagine, but the thought of _Russia_ of all people being able to attack him with cholera and plague and God knows what else was...terrifying. And of course that commie bastard would use the weapons if he knew how to make them, America had no doubt of that. The man was a monster, a threat to democracy and freedom and...and everything.

"I-I need to talk to MacArthur about this," America said at last as he rose to his feet. Japan nodded politely, and watched the nation leave the room. Out in the hall, safely beyond Japan's gaze, America leaned heavily against a wall and hugged his elbows. MacArthur would agree to help Japan, America was pretty sure of that. MacArthur knew what a lunatic Russia was, he would understand what was at stake here. He just needed to go find the man (once his damn knees stopped shaking so much, anyway), tell him the story and let him deal with it from there. America had enough shit to deal with, he could let MacArthur sort out this mess. Now, he just wanted to go outside and forget it all. And maybe he'd finally get around to finding that goddamn cigarette.

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History Notes:

Unit 731 was a top secret biological and chemical research unit in Japan during the Second Sino-Japanese War and WWII. It's notorious for the extremely cruel human experimentation that went on there and the biological and chemical weapons that were produced from those experiments. It's difficult to say exactly how many people were killed at Unit 731, but it was over 10,000 at least. Well over half a million people were killed by the biological and chemical weapons from Unit 731 and the satellite facilities.

Both prisoners of war and civilians were used for the experiments. Most of the experiments had a scientific purpose (infecting a person with plague to study the progression of the disease, or freezing one's limbs to try different kinds of treatment for frostbite), but much of what went on was just torture dressed up as being 'for science.' Vivisection was a common thing, and anesthesia was often not used because it was believed that it would interfere with the results.

Female prisoners were often used to study venereal diseases. Often, this was done by infecting a man with the disease first and forcing them to have sex at gunpoint once he was contagious. Inevitably, some women became pregnant, and their children were also used for experiments. There was not a single survivor from Unit 731.

When WWII ended, MacArthur secretly promised immunity to the physicians of Unit 731 in exchange for their research. At that point, both sides were afraid of the information falling into Soviet hands. The Soviet Union went after a few of the doctors and prosecuted them for war crimes, but the majority got away and went on to have very successful careers in medicine in Japan. A few of those came forward later in life to confess their crimes and tell the world about their experiences. This incident is still not very well known, and it's only recently that it has been included in Japanese textbooks. As with the Rape of Nanking, there are still some who insist that this never happened.


End file.
